Alipay, the world’s largest mobile, online payment and lifestyle platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group, announced today that the payment platform will be available in all McDonald’s restaurants in Thailand by April 2018. This makes Thailand the first destination outside Greater China to accept Alipay at McDonald’s.
Commenting on the development, Cherry Huang, General Manager, Cross-border Business for South and Southeast Asia, Alipay, said: “Thailand ranks #4 on the list of Top 10 Most Popular Destinations Outside Chinese Mainland for Chinese Tourists; to better facilitate the travel experience of Chinese visitors, our mission is to enable their smart lifestyle through our continuous efforts in expanding the merchant network and providing more value-added services. McDonald’s as one of the most popular fast food brands is an exciting addition to our merchant network in Thailand to bring greater convenience to Chinese visitors.”
To date, Alipay has established a broad network of merchants in Thailand across shopping, F&B, entertainment, hotel and attractions, including duty-free brand King Power, convenience store 7-ELEVEN, shopping malls and night markets such as Asiatique and JJ Green.
“Alipay has seen one of the highest penetration rates in Thailand. The average on-location spending of Chinese visitors in Thailand has surpassed USD2,000 per person per trip, which reflects a great business opportunity for local merchants,” added Cherry Huang, “Duty-free shops and convenience stores are the top two locations where Chinese visitors spend. Increasingly, we have also seen taxis becoming the transportation of choice in Thailand among Chinese visitors.”
Currently, Alipay is available in hundreds of private taxis in Bangkok, which will further expand in 2018.